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It was back in 1942 and the Second World War was raging. Folks were afraid to open their mouths in case they let some little statement slip about military maneuvers that had been made by one of their loved ones or friends who were members of the armed forces.

There were countless people who had no idea of what it was like to receive a letter that had been censored by the Canadian Government. My mother, who was born in England, had many relatives there and it was not at all uncommon to receive letters from them that had been opened and lines clipped out or blackened. Everyone was seemingly suspicious of so many things.

Posters cautioned us to keep our lips sealed lest a spy overhear what we were saying that could be crucial to the war effort.

Readers will remember when the village of Kinmount lost half of their business section as a result of a major fire.

Volunteer firefighters from surrounding district rushed to the scene and used every method known to wrestle the fire.

It was heart breaking for the Fenelon Falls Fire Brigade, who had just received a brand new fire truck, and were assisting in fighting the Kinmount fire, to suddenly notice it was engulfed by flames and nothing could be done to save it.

Two weeks later a similar call went out to the surrounding district calling for help in putting out a fire that was raging on the South side of the main street in Minden. The entire village folk were fighting the fire with every ounce of strength they had to prevent it from spreading to the North side of the main street. There wasn't a business left unscathed except for Jimmy Smith's Barber Shop.

Just about everyone was talking about sabotage being committed by enemy forces but they eventually learned that the former fire was caused by a truck overheating at Austin's Saw Mill. The latter broke out from an oven overheating at Britnell's Bakery located on the main street in Minden, in the early hours of the morning.

The support of the Ministry of Tourism, Culture, & Sport is gratefully acknowledged.

Thanks to the Archives of Ontario for supporting this project.

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